Have you been considering a Costco membership, but balk at shelling out $55 a year?

I’ve been a member now for over ten years, but I still remember when I wasn’t. No matter how much everyone seemed to love it, I swore there was no way I would ever pay to shop! Then I was given a one month free trial.

Free — now that’s a totally different story, so of course I gave it a try. By the end of the month, I was full-fledged, paying member of the club.

What did it take to change my mind? Rice. KEEP READING. . .

“You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have.”

This phrase has hung on my wall for over three years. When I see it, I am reminded of several things.

We make choices.

Life isn’t always a bowl of cherries. Sometimes it really sucks. Sometimes it’s nothing but a big ol’ bowl of …. yucky, brown stuff.

Bad things happen to good people and we can’t prevent that, but we make a choice how we will deal with it. We can lay down and die or get up and fight. KEEP READING. . .

When I divorced, the part of me that tries my best to stay upbeat and positive was honestly excited at the possibility of what my life could become, especially with regards to a career. Yet many months later, I still felt stuck going nowhere.

I was completely without focus. I had a lot of exciting ideas bouncing around in my head, but was easily distracted. I found myself first chasing one possibility, then the next, then the next. I didn’t know what I truly wanted and because I didn’t know, it was easy for me to lose my way. KEEP READING. . .

Do you dread Mother’s Day each year because you’re a single mom with children too young to plan the festivities on their own?

Do you feel trapped between having no celebration at all or the awkward situation of throwing your own party and helping little ones to make your own gift?

For many single mothers, celebrating Mother’s Day means having no one to help the children make the day special. It’s a difficult day for many, but it doesn’t need to be this way. As is often the case when we’re unhappy, the problem is created in our own mind because we want something we don’t have. We don’t have a spouse or partner to take on the role of teaching the kids the meaning of Mother’s Day, about honoring you, or to help them plan the celebration, but the day can be made meaningful in other ways. KEEP READING. . .

Do you mourn the loss of the life you used to have and still seethe with anger when you think of your ex?

Has divorce left you with a mountain of debt you’re not sure you’ll ever crawl out from under and paychecks which never quite stretch far enough?

Do you struggle alone to take care of the house, the yard, the cooking, the kids, school, appointments and activities, the job, the pets, the car…. everything… alone!

Do you resent him for finding someone new when you barely have time left at the end of the day to shower, much less date? KEEP READING. . .

Why are all the grocery stores using a system where I must use a ‘loyalty card’ in order to get their advertised sales price? And does everyone hate it as much as I do?

Another local store, Albertson’s here in Dallas, made the switch last week and I shopped there for the first time since the change today. They’re now using a program called ‘Just For U‘. It looks and operates exactly the way it did at Tom Thumb several years back. I hated it then, and am pretty sure I’m still going to hate it just as much today. KEEP READING. . .

It seems like eons ago, but there once was a time when I was a full-time, stay-at-home mom. Before the divorce. Before other concerns took over my life.

I was always a busy mom, especially when I had a house full of toddlers, and then all the years of homeschooling, but it doesn’t compare to life after divorce.

These days, in addition to having the responsibility for everything I did as a stay-at-home mom, I am now, for most of the day, also chief breadwinner. KEEP READING. . .

Want to save money?

“Do it yourself.” they say, but tackling a job yourself isn’t always the best answer.

As a general rule, I love to at least attempt to do a repair or maintenance job myself. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I feel when finished, especially when taking on a job which I view as a bit of a challenge. If it doesn’t work out and I end up calling in a professional, so be it. It doesn’t cost anything extra (usually) to have tried, and a good part of the time my attempt is successful. KEEP READING. . .

Is it about time for a new car?

Until I learned the following strategy for purchasing a vehicle, the very idea of car shopping caused waves of panic and dread within me.

Shopping for a car meant I had to negotiate the price of a vehicle, which meant dealing with salespeople much more experienced and determined than me. It was nothing short of pure drudgery, and without fail, I always left the lot feeling beat down and exploited.

The method outlined below takes a bit of time, but can save a bundle of money. Best of all, it leaves me feeling confident and in control. KEEP READING. . .